Now official figures – themselves widely held to be a huge underestimate – have borne that out, showing a stark and steady increase over the past five years.

In Manchester, there were seven rough sleepers officially recorded in 2010 but has now risen six-fold to 43.

Number of rough sleepers in Manchester

Source: Councils and estimates

Across Greater Manchester, the figure rose from 41 in 2010 to 101 in 2014.

Emma Reynolds, Labour’s shadow housing minister, called the figures ‘shocking’, adding: “Sleeping rough has a devastating impact on people’s lives and it is disgraceful the Tories have not only failed to act, but that their policies have made things worse.”

Jonathan Billings, who runs Stockport’s homeless charity the Wellspring, told the M.E.N. he was ‘not confident’ the government was taking the issue seriously, adding: “We have noticed a marked increase over the last few years.”

Figures are compiled by councils through rough sleeper counts and estimates. Most agree the figures are merely the tip of the iceberg.

On Friday, Manchester council is set to sign off £2m in cuts to homelessness funding – including to the city’s flagship Booth Centre project – on top of previous savings and hostel closures.

It has seen its overall budget drop by £300m since 2010.

Paul Andrews, Manchester council’s executive member for adults services, said it was ‘not surprising’ rough sleeping had risen during ‘challenging economic times’.

George has been sleeping rough for 24 years – read his story here –and see the video below to hear from him

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He said council support was being restructured to move rough sleepers off the street while working better with other agencies.

The government did not comment, however it has previously highlighted £23m in new funding for vulnerable homeless people.